Hello there. Just wanted to start this thread for my El Camino. Latest news is that she'll be arriving on 9th of july and I am so excited. Will be posting fresh pictures as soon as possible. I guess I'll be using this thread as a diary for my El Camino.

Good luck with your new project.

Thanks. I'll be filling this forum with questions and pictures as it goes by... :nanawrench:

One of my favorite years --looking forward to the pictures--Enjoy--glenn:beer:

Hey Lemmy, congrats on your new Elk. Hope it's everything you expect it to be....

Hey Lemmy, congrats on your new Elk. Hope it's everything you expect it to be....

And then Some.:poke:

Thanks. I know it won't be now some, but when I am through with her, she'll be.

Good news, My El Camino has passed customs and I am one step closer to having her... Oh, man this calls for celebration, I think I'll have a beer or two... who I am kidding, I'm having kalsarikännit, which roughly translates to underweardrunkness... when you are sitting home alone and drinking... YAY:beer:

Great. Happy for you. I know you have been anxiously waiting to get your hands on it.

Thanks! Well I have been anxiously waiting for a past 18 years... :nanawrench:

Waiting 18 years ? Lemmy you've got the patience of a saint. You certainly do deserve the ride of your life. Hope it exceeds your expectations.

Well I bought my first Elky back in 1992, so yeah 17 years to be exact. But ever since that day I have been wanting to own a 1970. And now I am just a few days away.

New News:

1st of september is a judgement day for my Elky. The importer has done little rust pealing and welding new metal on her and some minor things to do before final inspection. So I'll be getting her probably end of that week, althought I might not have the time to get her, it's a close call, since I a arranging a lan-party for co-workers behalf of our emploier. I'll have to see if I can squeeze a time to drive 600km back and forth.

Tomorrow I am finally getting my Elky! I leave early in the morning to pick her up, about 240miles north where I live and then I get to spend that 240 miles with her. I am going to post some pictures as fast I can. There shall be flood of pictures when I get the time to cruise and shoot. I'm going to carry my camera with me everywhere. Cheers!

Good luck on your first road trip and have a good time.

She is here! I drove her 250 miles to home. There is lots to do, but I ain't got nothing but time. I'll be posting pictures when I get around from driving... :nanawrench:

Hey Lemmy, Glad you got her home bud, a long journey for both of you. Enjoy, and good luck with her. Look forward to the pics...

Great news, Lemmy! Now enjoy her!!..............Ken :beer:

Your Elky is beautiful. Chrome..chrome and more chrome. I am on the shiney stuff hunt. You have given me so many ideas and probably a empty wallet!!

LOL, well we all have our dreams and some of us might give some idea's to others and so on. I cleaned the car today from the "junk" that was included in the deal and that previous owner really started to restoration on this baby. I find new set of headliner, yellow parklights(which is sadly forbidden in here, if I remember correctly.), all the clips and bolts for bed trim and those are in pretty good condition, new front bumber, new dash... etc.. I estimated that there was around 700-800 dollars worth of "junk"! And I enjoyed first real cruising with my baby today at the Helsinki's night. Man I feel Grrrrreat!:inlove:

From one '70 owner to another,

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!:You_Rock:

Thanks!

So, I had few nights to drive her around the town and noticed few things that I need to fix. Few are quite simple that I have done in the past, but some are little bit difficult so, I'll be browsing forums first and if nothing comes up, I'll be asking. And sunday we are going to take some owner and the El Camino shots, with a friend.

Welcome Mikka, did you drive F1 for Mclaren? Perhaps a different Mikka. If the lenses in the bumper are not allowed there, you could change to Monte Carlo lenses. They have the same bumper but use a clear lens with an amber bulb.

Well, Lenses are allowed, but not yellow-ones. But I am thinking of installing them anyways and behind switch, so that they can be turned on-off when needed. And yes, I was that Mika, but since they didn't give me enought dough to buy El Camino back then, I quit. :D

http://elcaminocentral.com/gallery.php?g2_itemId=73768 Here is some photos that I did take yesterday.

So, I did take a 200mil trip to Jyväskylä and in the middle my engine started to blow smoke and some noise. I pulled over and found that the intake gasket had blow out from rear and oil was leaking to tranny and from there to exhaust pipe, which was the source of smoke. So I drove careful to my destination and on monday I took her to service where they confirmed that the gasket has blew. Okay, 300€ and one afternoon later everything should have been okay, but when I was picking her up, they asked if I was going to drive her back to Helsinki. They found out that #3 cylinder was dead. So, they changed sparkplug, wire and distributors cap and no avail. So, I left her there and took the train back, since I'm going there back on next friday. Today they confirmed that there was leakage in intake valve. So far so good. I guess. I know more on next week when they have opened the head and checked what's wrong. Luckily they are focused on an American cars.

Congrats on getting your El Camino:You_Rock:

We'll be hoping that the news will be good when you find out the final prognosis, Lemmy. Good that you had public transportation available over there. In Texas, we would have to hire a cab, or hitchhike back home. There are no buses, and no trains, unless you happen to be close to an AMTRAC line - and the chances of that are nil to none!..............Ken :beer:

man sorry to hear that, well guess that means time to stroke the 350 or drop in a big block :inlove::texas:

OUCH!

I feel bad for you, Lemmy.
Hope it turns out to be an easy fix.

Thanks guys. I hope too. Yeah, I was dreaming about all sort of things that I could do right now to her, but I have a long winter ahead and lot's of time to think and money to spend. Well only bb that I would consider is 427, and those aren't so easy to find and cheap. So, I'm going to stick my 350.

Okay, Got a call today and there is blown head gasket too and crack in the head. :( They are looking for a replacement head so that I can drive her back to home. Luckily nothing badder than that crack, but still. Well, Now I guess I can start looking for a whole new set of heads! :) I have Edelbrock carb and intake, so I guess getting Edelbrock heads are good investment in money- and bolt-on-power-combination-wise?

be sure to match it with your cam... seem people blow 2 grand on a badass set of heads then not get but maybe 5hp from em cause they dont match up...:nanawrench:

Good to know, thanks! I don't have a clue what kind of cam there is, so perhaps I should buy new cam with the heads too.

Okay, Elky has been garaged whole winter now and I am about take her out and have fun for this summer. I have been talking with tutkis and his car has been registerd and so on, but we found out that our legal system for cars and passangers are quite mess. When I was trying to get my car registered as a passanger car engineers at AKE(logal DMV) said that gross weight is more than "carrying capacity of passenger car" it can't be registered as a passanger car. Well tutkis has the same model and year, but his is passanger car. Then we found out that his gross weight is 1950kg(4300lbs) and mine is 2400kg(5300lbs). Main problem is that how AKE can rate 2 different gw for same car? That wouldn't be a such big problem, but our vehicletax, which is paid once a year is currently CO2 based, but for those vehicles that doesn't have CO2 emission given by manufacturer, tax is based on gross weight of the vehicle. So, I am paying 70€ per year more than tutkis, just because AKE has made an error in my elkys gw. tutkis has given me information that with it, I can try to change my registered gw to right one. On those infos 3rd gen elky's has gw rated as 4100lbs, which I assume is correct, right? Oh, and I can't we to get her out of the garage and hear that engine roar!

YAY, I have taken my sweet Elky out of the garage and with little bit work on the batteryshoe and she was good to go. Tomorrow is inspection and if all goes well, I have an excellent drive whole summer... :inlove::nanawrench:

Did you get the engine fixed? You last update it had a blown head gasket and a cracked head. Hope your inspection goes well and get that elco on the road!:nanawrench:

Nice job,

Good luck and hopefully Elky would be passenger car after the inspection.

Maybe I should start my own My ´70 Elky page too. I've already promised to bring you some pictures of my ride but I still haven't got the job done. I have my own personal diary about the car but I might do some smaller scale diary on the site someday.

It's summertime soooon :beer:

Yeah, engine has been fixed and basically after that I put her in garage, until this monday . Inspection did go well, but when I asked about changing it from pick-up to passenger car, they said it's that the GVW is too heavy for a passenger car and I can't change that GVW without any documentation from the factory that mine(exact serial #) has lower than that what was given in first inspection in here, last year. And since I don't have that plate on the door where it usually is, there aren't any change to get that information. So, basically is it a passenger car or pick-up, isn't much of problem, since she doesn't have to wear that 80(km/h)-badge, but I am paying around 70€ more taxes per year. Which isn't that much, but it's the principal.

Well, now it's just a time to enjoy driving and cruising. And maybe little bit restoration, just a tiny bit... :nanawrench:

So far I haven't done anything, except mapping whats need to be done.

-Replacing front bumper turning lenses, to orginal yellow lenses(which I have).
-Reconnecting heaterhoses and having so heat at the cabin.
-Changing lights switch knob to orginal(which I have).
-Changing steering wheel for about close enough year(which I have).
-Fixing turning light returning spring on left(which I have).
-Fixing powersteering, problem is that in low rev's it doesn't have much of power to turn.
-Fixing or changing wiper motor/switch to one that has this delay/mist fuction as well.
-Fixing fuel gauge. It's stuck in full position, out of sight. Bad ground?.
-Changing weather seals on doors. (haven't orderded yet, ECS, Year1, Groundup, suggestions?).
-Changing speedometer to km/h(which I have).
-Changing whole dash to better one and making some modifications to it.(which I have).
-Adding noise and heat insulation to c-pillar(or is it b-pillar) and roof. (Dynamat?).
-Adding headliner and sunvisors(which I have).

I'll guess there's my little list of to do's...:nanawrench:

doesnt sound too bad, could prolly get all but one or two of those things done in a day

congrats for freeing the elk from the storage prison!

Not bad, I guess that I have still more things to do.

If you only need door weatherstrip seals, I'd ask from www.entisointi.com they sell SoffSeals like others.

1968 - 1972 chevrolet El Camino

Ovien tiivisteet klipseillä.
Pari.
Hinta: 83€

Not bad price for the pair, if you don't have anything else to order from the states.

I fixed some electrical issues on my '70. Using Nitto tape to fix electrical connections is BAD! I soldered all the connections and used heatshrink to insulate.
I also miss that delay function too so I should buy switch for that.

Maintenceman, true. But got lots of things to do before next week is over. But after that week... :nanawrench:

tutkis, thanks, I called and he had one pair of those in the shelf and there are here on friday or monday. :nanawrench:

Is that delay/mist function only with switch or does it need different wiper motor too? Just found that I have two spare switch, but those had only three sockets, so its basic two speed switch.

I was moving my stuff from old places basement and founded that I have also a driver's side vent windows regulator, which is broken too. And brand new Chevrolet tailgate emblem.

Okay, few weeks has passed by now and I'll have been driving like nuts. I think I need to fix the gas gauge, since I am not aware full capacity of the tank, so that I could drive a distance with mpg in mind and yesterday I went to fill her up and in goes 65 litres(17 gallons) and I am not sure is it 18 gallon or 20 gallon tank, but I was close of running out of gas. Since April I have been driving 1800 miles. And help on this: Is that delay/mist function only with switch or does it need different wiper motor too? ?

Cheers!

Onnea vaan, mäkin hain viime viikolla '80 Caminon...

Oh crap. I need a new water pump and of course I need the longer one, which nearest store doesn't have currently on their shelves. Oh well, I am on my vacation for next four weeks and they should have it by the end of this week.

Okay, I got the new pump and installed, but there was some minor adjustment that I needed to do with a minor-adjustment-tool(Hammer) and everything is great. We went for a Pick-Nick in Forssa on 1st of August and from there we spend little over week on the road. I'll be posting some shots later on. Some 430 miles we did on that trip. We had a blast. Camping and few night at cabin.

Okay, That month went fast. Few minor updates on the car. Heater core is 99.99% in working order. I put those cut off hoses from heater upright position and poured water from one and stopped when the water came out from the second one. Waited for a while and didn't see any leaks inside cabin. So basically I can reconnect those hoses and I have a heat in the cabin in these cold autumn days and nights.

As I spoke on http://www.elcaminocentral.com/showthread.php?t=36913 thread about my battery issue, I metered the voltage from the post's and it's steady 13.0V, which would indicate that the battery is still in "working" condition, although I am changing it by next spring.

Got a new garage from our apartments housings parking garage. It ain't warm, but at least it has roof and spot is far corner so that snow and colder winds aren't problem. And it was dirty cheap. And it's just a 50 yards away, so that I can do little job on it through the winter... :nanawrench:

Looks like this might be the place for us '70 guys to relate!
I have an electrical issue that's bugging me and not quite sure what direction to go.(I hate electrical problems!!!) I was driving the other nite and noticed my headlights were very dim and even dimmer when I put the hi beams on. Figured it was either the battery (fairly new) not holding a charge or the alternator has finally gone south (over 10 years old). I Replaced the alternator (which has a three wire connector and ground), same problem, only this time it caught my eye that the aftermarket tachymeter woud either freeze or drop 300~500 rpm readout and the lumination in the tach would go out when light switch turned on. Battery reads good, both with engine on and off, I'm thinking the regulator is good- however no surge in lights brightness noted when accelerating motor. i suspect either I'm not testing the regulator properly or I have a ground/short somewhere. My baby is a 70 SS w/400Ci 4 on the floor, headers, Edlebrock, Holley, factory a/c. Suggestions???

Hi, tedricko!

Well this is mostly kind of a my "diary" about my '70 but you and rest of '70 guys can post here with problems and suggestions and what not! :nanawrench:

So I did bought a new battery today and it has 750 CCA and I am going to install it tomorrow. And I also did get those heater hoses re-connected and now I have warm in the cabin!!!

Few weeks until I put her back in the garage for winters and on Saturday we are going on a lakeside cruising.

My mistake. I thought a lot of '70's owners might take an interest re problems with our year and share their issues and maybe learn something. Didn't realize this was a diary page. Sorry.

No biggie. I just think that you will get better answers to your problem via correct and separate threads in their own categories. You and rest of '70 owners are happy to post here and discuss issues...

Long time since my last post, but here it goes. As of yesterday my Elky is Hibernating for the winter, oh I'd say till April. I would have continued to drive her daily, but last few days showed me that it's way too slippery and I don't have the cash to buy set of wheels and studded tires, since m+s tires aren't sufficient for these weathers. Well, at least I have time to gather money for to do something bigger in a spring.

Well, few months has passed by and she is out of the winter hibernate. She's been on the road for a week now and I just can wait that weather is getting enough warmer, so that I can really start doing something. Spoiler is still in a playbook, but I have been thinking about it and I came to conclusion that it's doable, but I just need a right tools and place to work with it. First thing is going to be changing that ugle steering wheel out and close to orginal steering wheel in. And I guess I should move this thread to appropriate group...

Good news, My El Camino has passed customs and I am one step closer to having her... Oh, man this calls for celebration, I think I'll have a beer or two... who I am kidding, I'm having kalsarikännit, which roughly translates to underweardrunkness... when you are sitting home alone and drinking... YAY:beer:

Congratulations Miikka; can you help me pronounce kalsarikannit? Is it - - kal - sari - kan - nit? that is a word this old guy could put to use when the guys stay late at my shop this weekend.
Jim

Thanks and LOL, yes, it's pronounced like that. :beer:

Well, it has been a while. Few months has passed without any activity from my part to this wonderful site. I have been quite active in FB, but that really doesn't account. I guess I am saddened by losing my Elky's starter and I haven't done anything to her. Nada. Zip. Null. Little depression I guess. Now, I am working on a new shift and position at work, I could have time to spend on here, when at work and getting better pay too. But it's getting cold out side and since our garage is kind of "open" kind, inside is as cold as outside. At least its sheltering from winds and snow.

I also noticed that when I try to start the engine, lights and all come to life, but when I turn to ignition, there is that small "bojong" sound coming from small black box on firewall. Now my car electronics is so rusty that I can't figure what is the purpose of that. I should have picture of it... ah, yes. There right above that vacuum canister there with wires going in. Any ideas of what it is?

http://mursu.1g.fi/kuvat/1970+El+Camino/Technical/IMG_0570.JPG/_small.jpg

That is a relay for The fan (heat/defrost etc). The fuse holder is for the high speed of that fan.

Thanks Canted, 1 problem that I was aware on, but haven't prioritized it very high. I guess that still leaves me crawling up her and taking that starter off... :nanawrench: